Betting on You (Danvers #4.5)
Sydney Landon
Chapter One
Seth Jackson sighed in resignation as he ended his conference call with the management team of the Oceanix Resorts. He swiveled his chair so that he was facing the wall of glass behind him. The Atlantic Ocean sparkled in the hot July sunshine as crowds of tourists lined the beaches below. Some days it was torture sitting in the office in a suit while looking down upon nothing but bikinis and swim trunks. That was one of the hard things about living and working in a resort town. Sometimes, or in his case, most of the time, work came first. Knowing it was pointless to delay; he spun his chair back to his desk and signed his name to the bottom of the contract from Danvers International. It wasn’t that he had a problem with the company itself, because they were the best there was in the communications field. But now whenever he thought of Danvers, he thought of Beth Denton and their last date together. That was probably one of the most surprising and awkward moments in his dating life.
His best friend, Brett, had been going through a rough time since his girlfriend had ended their long-term relationship. Brett was a relationship kind of guy and he was desperate to find someone new to fill the void that Becka’s departure had left behind. One night after multiple rounds of drinks, Seth had agreed to try out a local dating service with Brett. He really hadn’t intended to do anything other than pay his enrollment fee and go through the motions until Brett found someone. When he had run across Beth’s profile on the computer, he had been more than a little interested. She was beautiful and sounded like someone he would have a lot in common with. He had asked her out that same day and had been very impressed on their first date. They had gone out a few more times and had even progressed to some hot goodnight kisses before she had suddenly gone AWOL for a few months. When she finally returned his call and accepted another date, he had been excited and ready to move the relationship forward until the dinner discovery.
He had met Beth at Sara J’s, one of his favorite seafood restaurants in Garden City Beach, South Carolina. When she had walked in, he thought she looked different. He knew it was probably a bit crude, but she had the look of a woman well f**ked. During their initial dates, she was always a tad reserved and obviously nervous, but on that night, she had seemed more confident in herself and her sexuality. He was pretty sure at that point what had been occupying her for the past few months, but maybe that was over since she had accepted his dinner invitation.
They had just settled at their table with the conversation flowing easily when a man had approached their table. It was obvious that he knew Beth. He suspected from their body language that they had been intimate. He had been surprised when the introductions were made. He had heard of Nick Merimon. Hell, Myrtle Beach was a small town where you either personally knew or knew of most everyone in the business circles. He had heard that Danvers International had merged with Mericom, which had been owned by the Merimon family. He knew Jason Danvers socially and had met Gray Merimon, Nick’s brother, on a few occasions. Nick’s reputation as a ladies’ man preceded him. Even though they both worked for Danvers, he wouldn’t have suspected a personal connection between Nick and Beth. They seemed to be complete opposites. He actually found himself feeling a little sorry for Beth. He was afraid that she had probably been seduced and dumped. He, of course, would be happy to swoop in and give her the support she needed to move on. He wasn’t looking for long-term so he was happy to be her rebound guy if needed.